Rudolf Leopold (* 29 December 1894 in Lomnitz near Dresden; † 01 November 1986) was a German chess composer and chess theorist.

Chess composition
Rudolf Leopold began working on chess composition as a grammar school pupil in Bautzen in 1911. In the same year, he won fourth prize in a tournament organised by the Budapest Chess Club with a two-move piece. In the early years, mating compositions were his passion.

At the Dresden Chess Club, Leopold became acquainted not only with Paul Schellenberg but also with Friedrich Palitzsch and his Dresden idea. It left a lasting impression on him. Over a period of more than sixty years, he became a tireless propagandist and interpreter of the Dresden Idea, continuing the work of his friend who died young.

From 1924, Leopold headed the chess corner of the Pirnaer Anzeiger. He also wrote several theoretical essays. In 1965 he became an international arbiter for chess composition. In 1972 he was honoured by the DSV as the GDR National Master of Chess Composition.

By his 80th birthday, Rudolf Leopold had written theoretical works and over 700 chessproblems, the majority of which had not yet been published.

Private
Leopold taught maths, physics and shorthand as a teacher with a doctorate. He lived in Dresden for many decades.

Publications
Leopold, Rudolf: Circuit mechanisms in the Dresden problem of ideas, Die Schwalbe, 1937
Leopold, Rudolf: What is a real Roman? Dresdner Anzeiger, 1938
Sources
SCHACH 12/1974 p. 378, Dr Rudolf Leopold 80 years (with photo and, among other things, the prize-winning task from 1911)
Individual references
 Zucker, Manfred: Problem chess in Saxony. Unpublished manuscript for: Sächsische Schachgeschichte - Ein Überblick. Chemnitz, Dresden, Leipzig, 2002
 International judges for chess compositions
Weblink
148 chess compositions by Rudolf Leopold on the PDB server